Biography
It's all but impossible to disentangle Chrissie Hynde from the Pretenders. Hynde served as the group's undisputed leader and most visible figure right from the outset, handling lead vocals, songwriting duties, and rhythm guitar while embodying their core drive and singular character. Across their four-decade span she emerged as the sole unchanging presence, with her incisive yet melodic songcraft, commanding delivery, and lyrics that weighed self-assurance against self-examination—whether addressing her public profile or private concerns—shaping both the band’s identity and her own. Three decades after the Pretenders issued their first album, Hynde launched a solo path, using outside projects to explore partnerships and sounds that fell outside the Pretenders’ framework. The loose and energetic 2010 set Fidelity! paired her with JP Jones and his Fairground Boys, while 2014’s Stockholm centered on numbers co-written with Björn Yttling; 2019’s Valve Bone Woe took an eccentric turn toward jazz, and 2021’s Standing in the Doorway: Chrissie Hynde Sings Bob Dylan offered a salute to a friend and enduring influence.
Born in Akron, Ohio, on September 7, 1951, Chrissie Hynde developed a passion for rock & roll amid the British Invasion years of 1964 and 1965. While studying art at Kent State she first experimented with performance in the band Sat. Sun. Mat., which also included Mark Mothersbaugh, later known as a member of Devo. Restless, she departed for London in 1973, where she encountered rock journalist Nick Kent, who secured her a brief writing post at NME. That role ended quickly, leading her instead to SEX, the boutique operated by Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren that would soon anchor British punk; Hynde left Britain just before that scene ignited. Following a short interval in France she returned to Ohio in 1975, remaining only a year before crossing the Atlantic once more. She attempted to assemble a band in France, then headed back to London, where she auditioned unsuccessfully for 999. She and Mick Jones, soon to form the Clash, tried starting a group without success; McLaren next asked her to join Masters of the Backside, yet she was dismissed before the lineup evolved into the Damned.
In 1978 Hynde finally established her own band, enlisting guitarist James Honeyman-Scott, bassist Pete Farndon, and drummer Martin Chambers to create the Pretenders. Their demo reached Nick Lowe, who produced the debut single “Stop Your Sobbing”/“The Wait,” which reached the U.K. Top 30 early in 1979; the self-titled album followed in January 1980 and broke through on the strength of “Brass in Pocket.” Success brought complications: contract disputes postponed Pretenders II until mid-1981, and 1982 saw Hynde dismiss Farndon while Honeyman-Scott succumbed to heart failure, both exits tied to drug use. She regrouped for 1983’s Learning to Crawl, which achieved greater mainstream traction than earlier releases.
Lineup flux placed Hynde squarely in the spotlight, and she generated additional attention through her relationship with Kinks leader Ray Davies—the couple welcomed a daughter in 1983—and her marriage to Simple Minds frontman Jim Kerr, with whom she also had a daughter. Further accomplishments arrived with the Pretenders, whose 1986 album Get Close yielded “Don’t Get Me Wrong,” and with UB40, who enlisted her for the 1985 U.K. number-one “I Got You Babe” and its 1988 follow-up “Breakfast in Bed,” which peaked at number six. She also cultivated a profile as a social activist, notably advocating for animal rights through PETA and championing vegetarianism.
The Pretenders continued until the second decade of the millennium. After 2008’s Break Up the Concrete, Hynde began branching out, first collaborating with boyfriend JP Jones on the 2010 album Fidelity!. Four years later she issued her initial proper solo record, Stockholm; unlike Pretenders projects built largely from songs she supplied, this effort was almost entirely shaped with Björn Yttling of the Swedish pop band Peter Bjorn and John—an irony she often highlighted during promotion. Stockholm entered the Billboard 200 at 36 and the U.K. album charts at 22.
Hynde rejoined the Pretenders in 2016 for Alone, produced by Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys; although billed as a band release, she remained the only official member performing, with session musicians handling most arrangements. Three years afterward she resumed solo work with Valve Bone Woe, a mid-century jazz homage that mixed rock, pop, and jazz standards. While awaiting the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown’s end, she and Pretenders guitarist James Walbourne shared files online to record Dylan covers from their home studios, yielding the May 2021 release Standing in the Doorway: Chrissie Hynde Sings Bob Dylan.
Born in Akron, Ohio, on September 7, 1951, Chrissie Hynde developed a passion for rock & roll amid the British Invasion years of 1964 and 1965. While studying art at Kent State she first experimented with performance in the band Sat. Sun. Mat., which also included Mark Mothersbaugh, later known as a member of Devo. Restless, she departed for London in 1973, where she encountered rock journalist Nick Kent, who secured her a brief writing post at NME. That role ended quickly, leading her instead to SEX, the boutique operated by Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren that would soon anchor British punk; Hynde left Britain just before that scene ignited. Following a short interval in France she returned to Ohio in 1975, remaining only a year before crossing the Atlantic once more. She attempted to assemble a band in France, then headed back to London, where she auditioned unsuccessfully for 999. She and Mick Jones, soon to form the Clash, tried starting a group without success; McLaren next asked her to join Masters of the Backside, yet she was dismissed before the lineup evolved into the Damned.
In 1978 Hynde finally established her own band, enlisting guitarist James Honeyman-Scott, bassist Pete Farndon, and drummer Martin Chambers to create the Pretenders. Their demo reached Nick Lowe, who produced the debut single “Stop Your Sobbing”/“The Wait,” which reached the U.K. Top 30 early in 1979; the self-titled album followed in January 1980 and broke through on the strength of “Brass in Pocket.” Success brought complications: contract disputes postponed Pretenders II until mid-1981, and 1982 saw Hynde dismiss Farndon while Honeyman-Scott succumbed to heart failure, both exits tied to drug use. She regrouped for 1983’s Learning to Crawl, which achieved greater mainstream traction than earlier releases.
Lineup flux placed Hynde squarely in the spotlight, and she generated additional attention through her relationship with Kinks leader Ray Davies—the couple welcomed a daughter in 1983—and her marriage to Simple Minds frontman Jim Kerr, with whom she also had a daughter. Further accomplishments arrived with the Pretenders, whose 1986 album Get Close yielded “Don’t Get Me Wrong,” and with UB40, who enlisted her for the 1985 U.K. number-one “I Got You Babe” and its 1988 follow-up “Breakfast in Bed,” which peaked at number six. She also cultivated a profile as a social activist, notably advocating for animal rights through PETA and championing vegetarianism.
The Pretenders continued until the second decade of the millennium. After 2008’s Break Up the Concrete, Hynde began branching out, first collaborating with boyfriend JP Jones on the 2010 album Fidelity!. Four years later she issued her initial proper solo record, Stockholm; unlike Pretenders projects built largely from songs she supplied, this effort was almost entirely shaped with Björn Yttling of the Swedish pop band Peter Bjorn and John—an irony she often highlighted during promotion. Stockholm entered the Billboard 200 at 36 and the U.K. album charts at 22.
Hynde rejoined the Pretenders in 2016 for Alone, produced by Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys; although billed as a band release, she remained the only official member performing, with session musicians handling most arrangements. Three years afterward she resumed solo work with Valve Bone Woe, a mid-century jazz homage that mixed rock, pop, and jazz standards. While awaiting the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown’s end, she and Pretenders guitarist James Walbourne shared files online to record Dylan covers from their home studios, yielding the May 2021 release Standing in the Doorway: Chrissie Hynde Sings Bob Dylan.
Albums
Duets Special
2025
Standing in the Doorway: Chrissie Hynde Sings Bob Dylan (feat. James Walbourne)
2021
Singles
